Council Update: Amps, Vicious Cats and Preferential Parking

By Jorge Casuso

The City Council Tuesday night voted not to pull the plug on amplified performances on the Third Street Promenade but banned the sale of prefabricated art objects.

In a unanimous vote the council cracked down on artists who vend crafts without paying retail overhead by putting finishing touches on ready made art works and calling the process a performance.

"They will show you a picture in a book then pull out a framed picture," said Steele Smith, the performance monitor on the Third Street Promenade. "That defeats the purpose of the performance."

The council also decided not to ban amplified performances during peak hours, which has been the subject of complaints by police personnel, the monitor, residents and the business community.

The noise, Smith said, "rips down the length of one block in an astonishingly quick time." But Steele acknowledged that "banning amplification during peak hours may not work."

"The ban would hurt some of the better musicians," Smith said. "There is no question we have a problem. I'm not sure this is how to get at it."

Councilmen Robert Holbrook and Paul Rosenstein pushed for a peak-hour ban, noting that amplified performances tend to draw a crowd that gathers further away from a performer, often blocking pedestrian access.

"It looks like somebody is setting up a road show with batteries, amplification and speakers," Holbrook said. "Amplification spreads out the crowd. I'd love to try on Friday or Saturday night an amplification ban. It's just too darn noisy."

"I think we should be concerned with what's best for the Promenade," Rosenstein said. "We're concerned with what's best for the performers.

"Banning amplification would not solve all problems and would hurt a few performers," Rosenstein said, "but the Promenade would be a lot more pleasant place to visit."

Councilman Kevin McKeown noted that the noisiest performer he heard during a recent stroll down the Promenade on a busy weekend night was an unamplified musician banging on drums.

Before we unnecessarily shut down these performers, maybe we should work with them," McKeown said. The council, he said, should send the message, "we prefer to work with you not against you."

Other council members agreed.

"I would prefer to see an adjustment rather than a wide swing from amplification to non-amplification," said Councilman Richard Bloom. "We need to take an incremental approach."

In the end, instead of a ban, the council unanimously directed staff to work with the performers to persuade them to keep the sound levels low.

"There are some problems and it needs some fine tuning," said Mayor Ken Genser. The answer is approaching the problem "in an organic manner rather than a legitimate ban. It's a public street. If we're not exactly on point, we're very, very close."

In a separate action, the council voted to include animals other than dogs in an ordinance to control the possession of vicious or dangerous animals. While the current ordinance addresses the hazard of dogs biting humans, it does not address attacks by other animals or animal-to-animal attacks by any species, including dogs.

About 55 animal bites or attacks on humans are reported to the city's Animal Control Unit every year. Dogs are the aggressors in 95 percent of all bites or attacks, while cats are the aggressors in 4 percent. Exotic species account for one percent or less of that total.

Under the Vicious Animal Ordinance, a misdemeanor penalty of up to $500 and up to six months in County jail will be imposed for violations. The penalty gives a magistrate discretionary authority to reduce the fine amount and/or waive incarceration when warranted by the facts of the case.

On Tuesday night the council also changed from one to two hours the length of time a vehicle can be stationed in one of the preferential parking zones in Ocean Park. Vehicles can now park in the preferential parking zone bounded by Strand Street, Third Street, Ocean Park Boulevard and Main Street for two hours between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.

No vehicles can park adjacent to any curb in the zone between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. without a permit.